The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines

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The Allman Brothers Band was a Southern blues-rock band that hit it's peak popularity in the 70's. The brothers were Gregg (vocals) and Duane (slide/lead guitar). Duane was known as a guitar virtuoso, possibly the best slide guitar player that ever lived. Tragically, in 1971, Duane died before his 25th birthday in a motorcycle accident. Then, bassist Berry Oakley died in a similar motorcylce accident just three blocks away from the site of Duane's accident.

The band continued with its other revered guitarist, Dicky Betts, taking most of the guitar duties. The band went through a couple of guitarists over the years, until finally, in 1999, the band found a new slide guitar virtuoso to replace Betts, drummer Butch Trucks's nephew Derek Trucks.

Trucks is 27 years old. He was the youngest guitarist to be on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time list. He was born 10 years after the first Allman Brothers Band album. Derek Trucks is widely recognized as a slide guitar wizard - he has been since his teen years. He wants more than that.

"Songlines" is an attempt to create something besides the Allman Brothers Band, something that exceeds what we perceive of Derek Trucks. It's so we can see Derek not only as an incredible guitarist, but also as a real bandleader and songwriter with diverse influences and sounds.

The Derek Trucks band has added a permanent vocalist in Mike Mattison, who has a strong voice reminiscent of Gregg Allman, but at the same time a suprisingly soulful falsetto. He brings some consistency to the songs and adds a more vocals-oriented approach to the band.

Trucks has set forth a wide variety of influences in this album. The band is both adventerous enough to try something different and good enough to pull it off. Take for example their version of jazz legend Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Volunteered Slavery" or Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni" or reggae founding father Toots Hibbert's "Sailing On".

The album gets a lot of depth from the strong percussive work of Count Mbutu. The band's base of slide guitar blues is strongly expanded towards jazz, soul, and Eastern music which the band has been known to play live. Even though the band has a distinct jam band reputation, the songwriting is tight enough to focus on songs and not loose jamming. The group never falls victim to endless doodling and sounds focused throughout.

Their take on the traditional "Crow Jane" features Mattison singing in a soulful falsetto with some incredible blues guitar work by Trucks. The instrumental medley of "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni" showcases what great slide guitar players do - sound thoroughly human through their instrument. Trucks manages to do that and at the same time adhere to the Pakistani sound (the songs are literally hundreds of years old and based around Sufi prayer). On keyboards and flutes, Kofi Burbridge comes in at crucial times to provide different aspects while bassist Todd Smallie plays "in the pocket" and around drummer Yonrico Scott.

The resonating delta blues guitar in "Chevrolet" sounds incredibly fresh coupled with the unusual percussion, while Mattison returns with his usual gruff tone. Their twist on Toots and the Maytals' "Sailing On" is mellow, with swooping guitar work from Trucks. The original tune of "Revolution" is slick and anthemic in a pop/blues/rock kinda way. On the soulful "I'd Rather be Blind, Crippled, & Crazy", the band manages to incorporate a reggae sound and a popping bassline. Meanwhile, Mattison switches from the gruff tone to the falsetto in the middle of the song. However, it all makes sense - the album never sounds confused in it's eclecticism. Instead it's variety is one of it's strongest points.

The band's take on "I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)" has the unmistakable sound of 70's soul -with its rumbling bassline, piano work and handclaps -0 but has the addition of Trucks on guitar, soloing and working in tandem with the vocals. The album concludes with "The Sky", an original compostion which serves to close the album with a jazz/blues sensibility.

On paper, "Songlines" may come off as impenetrable, but in reality it's far from it. It's actually quite accessible, and if anything it's a tad too accessible for some. Some songs aren't as good, but in general the music is beautiful. Some of the lyrics could use some work, but the instrumentation is always superb. The mix of eclectic styles is also a strong draw.

Derek Trucks is one of the most humble guitar heroes ever. He doesn't approach his band as a way of creating some sort of backing for him to show while approaching songs as excersizes in guitar wankery, like far too many guitar virtuosos do. Rather, he works as a band crafting actual songs, with an emphasis on substance over style. Even still, Trucks can't help but to steal the show. Slide guitars are intended to sound like a singing voice and Trucks can make his sound like a soulful singer or a wailing delta bluesman or an Eastern mystic. He is perhaps rivaled only by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts as the best slide guitarist ever.

The album is triumphant. This is Truck's coming of age, from prodigy and guitar hero to full-flegded bandleader and songwriter. It's also the band's finest album to date.

-Luis